Amazon will be buying its headquarters buildings in Seattle from Paul Allen-owned Vulcan Real Estate in a deal valued at $1.16 billion.

“We are truly excited that Amazon is making this long-term commitment to the South Lake Union community,” said Vulcan Inc Vice President of Real Estate Ada Healey in a news release, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

“We know they will be excellent stewards of this property and will continue to play a vital role in revitalizing South Lake Union and creating a thriving urban neighborhood in the heart of Seattle’s urban core,” she added.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon has paid a nonrefundable deposit to Vulcan amounting to $23 for the deal.

On October 22, the nonrefundable deposit Amazon will make will be raised to $51 million.

Amazon will be buying 11 buildings for $1.16 billion in the South Lake Union neighborhood.

According to Bloomberg, the deal’s price makes it the most costly single office property purchase in the US for the year.

Back in August, Vulcan put the buildings up for sale. These buildings are currently under lease to Amazon.

Nonetheless, Vulcan said that Amazon was not necessarily the target buyer for the property.

In the report from Bloomberg, Healey is quoted as saying that “When we originally commenced the disposition process, we did not think Amazon would necessarily be the buyer.”

“We were fully prepared to have the six phases go to six different buyers,” she said, referring to the six phases the 11 buildings are built in.

These 11 buildings have a combined office space of 1.8 million square feet.

However, Amazon still plans to build three additional and new office skyscrapers on a three-block space “along the east side of Westlake Avenue between Lenora and Virginia streets,” the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says.

These buildings will each have up to 37 stories and will add about a million more square feet of office space for Amazon properties in the area.

Meanwhile, Vulcan, which is owned by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, said that they will use the proceeds of the deal with Amazon to develop other properties in the area.

Vulcan plans to use the earnings from the deal to develop the 30 acres of property it still owns in the South Lake Union neighborhood after the deal with Amazon.

Image from edgeplot on Flickr (CC)

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .